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Wednesday, June 17, 2015

IOC scales new high; Opens solar shop on the top of the world at Leh

ADDING a new feather to its glorious
cap, Indian Oil Corp Limited (IOCL) has opened a new solar shop
literally "on top of the world". The shop is located at
11,500 feet from the sea level.

On June 16, the Maharatna PSU
commissioned the world's highest retail outlet in Leh -Lotus Xangpo
memorial filling station -operated by solar power. Besides cutting
greenhouse gas emissions, “the solar power generation system
enables the... retail outlet to save about Rs 30,000 per month“, IOC
said in a statement.

The PSU has installed a solar power
generation system at the petrol pump situated at 11,500 feet above
sea level to replace polluting diesel generator, the company said in
a statement here.

Besides cutting greenhouse gas
emissions, "the solar power generation system enables the retail
outlet to save about Rs 30,000 per month.".

The investment in the solar power
system would be recovered in about 18 months.

IOC already has two other solar-powered
retail outlets operating at Choglamsar and the Leh-Manali road in
Ladakh region. But both are at a slightly lower altitude than Leh.

These outlets operate under extreme
weather conditions, with temperature falling 25 degrees below
freezing point during winters and thin oxygen density. But the solar
systems function smoothly as the region gets bright sunlight due to
dry weather conditions for most part of the year.

The PSU is using solar power to light
up its petrol pumps across the country. Till March 31, 1,398 new
outlets were solarized, taking the total tally to 2,663.

IOC plans to add another 1,500 petrol
pumps and Kisan Seva Kendras in the current financial year and
envisions touching 5,000 solar-powered outlets by 2017-18 and 10,000
by 2022.

"By installing solar power, the
dealers of the outlets are assured of power supply at a constant
voltage. Even fuel dispensing units, fan, tube lights and other
essential electrical fittings can be operated at optimal capacity,
which in turn ensures that a dealer is able to provide consistent and
quality service to their customers," the statement added.

As on date, the total installed solar
panel capacity at IOC retail outlet is around 5.5 Mega Watts, leading
to a saving of 6,750 kilolitre of diesel per year, amounting to
around Rs 40 crore, reported a national daily.